friend zone
by golden doe
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke's word of advise? "Never ever use subtlety to woo Miss Oblivious. It doesn't work."


[F]riend [Z] o n e

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"Only an idiot will pursue a relationship with an oblivious using subtlety."

Uchiha Sasuke (follow his advice, he's been there)

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The sight of her familiar face in this city of strangers has given him another chance, taught him to hope even—something he'd scarcely allowed himself to. Because this is the chance they didn't have in high school...

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COINCIDENCE—

Chance

Hope

L O V E

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_Maybe?_

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She was exactly as he last saw her, her image a tattoo inked in his head—inerasable, a permanent picture. And her name was _Haruno Sakura_.

Her eyes, greener than before if possible, were wide in surprise and recognition at the sight of him, lips parted in disbelief, until they melted into a soft expression he could call home.

The irony in this coincidence—fate? Chance?—was sweet, and while he never was one who took pleasure in sweetness, _this_ could be an exception like _she_ had always been. That was what Haruno Sakura in his life, an exception to every rule and he wouldn't have her any other way because she's special.

It never once occurred to him though that he could possiblymaybehopefully find home in this foreign city he expected to be filled with strangers. The home he left, turned his back to, and never once spared a one last glance at all. The home he didn't want to return to but it seemed home found him instead.

"It's been a while, Sasuke-kun."

He smirked at her, amused at her choice of words but more than anything, he was pleased to hear her call him the way she used to (affectionate and intimate) as if nothing had changed, as if time stood still the past three years.

"I don't think three years can be categorised as _a while_, Sakura."

A thin pink eyebrow rose at him, and his smirk only widened.

"Well, that's all I have now. So you either take it, or leave it." To achieve an overall effect, the girl (woman) in front of him crossed her arms rather haughtily.

"I take it," he finally answered.

She scoffed, shaking her head. "You're still unbelievable as ever."

"I know."

"And apparently your ego hasn't deflated either."

"You're still annoying."

Sakura looked at him indignantly, a fake scandalised insulted expression on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, obviously in retaliation, when a man appeared beside her. And Sasuke had to watch in masked agony as green eyes lit up brighter (brighter than it used to with him), soft pink lips pecking the other man's cheek.

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E

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_Maybe?_

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_Maybe _not?

_._

Apparently the Other Man's name was Inuzuka Kiba, a vet student and had been Sakura's Boyfriend for a year—this particular fact wasn't welcome to him.

This was why Sasuke didn't go home, didn't want to go home, even for just a visit. He knew this would happen. Change. Changes. He knew Sakura would change after he left, and he imagined she would grow to become independent without him. Yet while it would be interesting to see her grown up and changed for the better, he didn't want to see it. Knowing one thing and seeing it physically were two different things. Knowing meant they could all be his imagination but seeing meant it really happened and he was too much of a coward to accept naked truth. Because truth hurts, it always did.

And now she got a boyfriend.

The two had only known each other for barely two years but they'd been dating for a year already. It was dangerous, he thought, and could only lead to heartbreak. Two things he didn't want her to suffer or be involved with. For years he had protected her, and now that he was back in her life, it would be no different. Sasuke had known Sakura for years, been friends with her since childhood, and spent over half his life with her—well that was until he left but that wasn't the point.

The point was that it was him who'd been there for her all those years, her best friend more than anything, but he was gone for three years, she got a boyfriend, and he was feeling like the metaphorical third wheel.

By rights, he knew it shouldn't be case. That Kiba was the Third Wheel; he was the trespasser, the intruder. Compared to him, this vet-to-be was nothing in Sakura's life. He wasn't there for her as a shoulder to cry on, the one who stayed by her side when she was down, the shelter she ran to whenever her mother was displeased with her. But Sasuke was, he was what Kiba wasn't.

So why did Sakura chose that guy over him?

"I'm so glad you decided to transfer here in KU, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura, the ever enthusiastic, beamed at him as they (unfortunately, including the Other Man) walk towards the university entrance.

"It's not like I had any choice Sakura," he responded dryly. And it was the truth. He didn't exactly have a choice (but he was secretly glad that he didn't for reasons so obvious it need not be mentioned). If it weren't for the (another) promotion his father got, he wouldn't move to Konoha at all.

Actually, it was needless for him to move with the family; he could've just stayed behind in Oto to finish his engineering degree instead of transferring to another university but his mother wouldn't have it. After Itachi got married at 25, Uchiha Mikoto was adamant to keep her youngest around. As long as she could.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't."

Ignoring his long time friend's childish display of sticking her tongue out at him, her statement sounded like a love confession and made his heart _skip_. But he was getting ahead of himself, her boyfriend was just there.

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H O P E

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_Maybe?_

_Hopefully?_

_Please._

_._

"Fuck off, Uchiha. Sakura's mine."

Not exactly the words that the Other Man had told him but the message was all the same. Sakura's boyfriend didn't want him around anymore, especially not around his girlfriend. His eyes narrowed at the thought. Who the hell did that guy think he was, telling him off like that? Sakura's boyfriend?

_Obviously he is_.

Sasuke sighed. That's right, Inuzuka's the Boyfriend, not him. He didn't like it. Her, to belong to someone else who wasn't him. She had always been his. The girl by his side, who worshipped the road the walked on, always there for him, with him, wherever. Right now though, he was just a friend—her childhood friend, her best friend—and he always had been. Wasn't that the reason why he left Suna,_ her_, in the first place? He wanted to escape the Friend Zone, but he was afraid he'd ruin the already beautiful relationship with her. He was greedy, he knew that, for wanting more, wanting to be more, more to her than just a friend. And he was suffocated; it was suffocating, so he left.

"_Hey, Sakura-chan... are you and Sasuke-kun dating?"_

"_What? Us? No!" Sakura laughed, as if the idea of them being together was funny, just like a joke, "we're just friends."_

Oh yes, wasn't that the catalyst of his departure? That hushed conversations between the girls involving a pink-haired girl one afternoon? Friends. They were friends. And she laughed at the idea of them dating.

He left in hopes to get over her and accept that they'll be nothing more than friends. It was cowardly of him, he was aware, but he didn't want to lose her if he could not have her.

Cowardice was something he taught himself. In the face of uncertainty, always choose the certain road out. Do not take risks, it's dangerous, and the consequences are irreversible.

And in the face of confessing his feelings to her, as much as he didn't want to consider rejection, it was a possibility. Then nothing would ever be the same between them, and like those clichéd unrequited love stories where BFF A falls for BFF B, A tells B but B rejects A and their friendship eventually die out, they'd grow apart—Sasuke didn't want that.

He'd rather stay in Friend Zone than lose her.

He started avoiding her. Not because Inuzuka told him to literally "fuck off" but because he didn't want to be a third wheel in a relationship he didn't want any involvement in.

Sasuke tried to convince himself that he didn't like it. This New Sakura. He didn't like her. He thought she was still the same, he _hoped _she was still the same that he turned a blind eye to the little changes about her.

She's still the girl with pink hair and green eyes, yes; but she was no longer the Sakura who had been dependent on him. The girl who thought of him as the sun of her solar system had grown so independent he almost couldn't recognise her. She got a boyfriend now—something she couldn't have before. She was always known as Uchiha's girl back in high school. And no one dared to cross with him, especially the foolish idiots.

She kept her hair long for him, because she knew he liked girls with long hair. But now, seeing her hair so short, the shortest he'd ever seen it, he liked it better. He wasn't going to admit that, though.

She had changed simply because he wasn't present in her life. And now there was another guy she was trying to please—her boyfriend, who didn't have the intimate relationship he had with her, someone whose history she shared could not equal theirs. What right did that guy have to date her? He knew nothing about her. He was a stranger in her world, in the world she lived with Sasuke. He was ignorant of her past. He wasn't there for her when she'd cry because her mother was dissatisfied with her 95%. He wasn't there to watch when she'd try to act strong and smile for others, only to witness her crumble later.

But Sasuke was. He had been her pillar of support, her shelter, her refuge, her shoulder to cry on. He was her everything.

But she was ever the oblivious and he always preferred subtlety.

Somehow, it didn't surprise him to see Sakura was standing outside the lecture hall, apparently waiting for him. But he only nodded at her before turning towards the other direction. He didn't want to have the conversation she wanted with him right now. Not now, and especially not ever. It was a cowardly thing to do so but it was necessary. Space. They needed space. Especially him.

Away from her and her boyfriend.

"Oi! Hey, Sasuke-kun! Wait for me!" He could hear her yells behind him, despite the growing chattering of universities who just got out of a veryvery boring class. But he ignored it.

He chose to stay in the Friend Zone four years ago. He left. Now there's another guy in her life, someone who she didn't chuck inside Friend Zone. Besides, it wasn't like he was getting out anytime soon, anyway. And he didn't want to ruin her chances with the Other Man.

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So this is what real HOPE is

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"I broke up with Kiba."

Sakura had eventually found him at the library, and cornered him. Whatever he was expecting that would leave her lips, it wasn't that though.

And while the thought was worth rejoicing, there was another implication at this rather surprising development.

"What did he do?" he was aware that the tone of his voice turned harsh, dark, and that Sakura didn't like seeing him this way.

He saw her flinch and struggle not to take a step backward away from him.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to placate him.

"He told me everything. He said he told you to stay away."

"You broke up with him because of that?"

Truth to be told, he was... touched, for lack of better word. To think Sakura had broken up with her boyfriend just because of him.

"You're my friend... I won't allow anyone to be mean to you. If he can't accept you who is my friend, then I'm afraid I don't want to date him anymore."

He sighed, he just got friendzoned again.

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It

Is

L O V E

...

"I don't want to be friends with you," he told her.

Her eyes widened in surprise and hurt and confusion and myriad of other emotions. He watched as she struggled within herself. She tried to open her mouth only to close it again. He was surprised at the lack of tears. He thought she'd cry but she didn't.

Then she sighed, as if in defeat.

"If you say so," she whispered before turning away from him.

"If you say so," was the phrase that played a role in the friendship he had with her all those years ago. It was the representation of her submission to him. Her acceptance to whatever he said or wanted. It showed the power he had over her.

There were times when she'd say it cheekily with a mischievous grin that meant she was mocking him.

But this time, she said with her eyes cast down and in a whisper. Sasuke knew he had to rectify the situation. Sakura didn't understand what he meant as usual, being the oblivious girl that she had always been.

So he ran after her.

"I said what I said because..."

Because what? Was he ready to say this? Out loud to her? He didn't have the chance to say this before he left because wasn't this the reason why he left? He wanted to escape the Friend Zone, but was too much of a coward to do the first approach, to make the first move. Because as much as he didn't want to consider rejection, it was a possibility. He didn't want to ruin the friendship, the close relationship they have.

"I wanted more," he finally said after several moments.

"More?" she uttered the word carefully, as if it was a new vocabulary she heard, "what do you mean?"

"I don't want to be friends with you," he repeated, "I want to be more."

"But you are! Aren't you? You're more than just a friend," she pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're my best friend. You're like the brother I don't have," she continued.

Great. He's out of Friend Zone, but he entered Sibling Zone—the thought made him want to vomit. Isn't that like... incest? Sasuke smothered the shudder up his spine.

"Would you like me to call you nii-san now?" she added innocently, and Sasuke had the urge to strangle her.

This girl, in all her obliviousness, was the most frustrating person he had ever to meet in his life.

"No!" he hissed at her, "I don't want to be your friend, best friend, and most especially not your older brother!"

Sakura looked taken aback at his aggressive dialogue.

"I want to be your boyfriend!"

"Oh."

He raised an eyebrow impatiently. She was usually more eloquent than "oh". Then she blushed and shyly tried to meet his eyes, but hastily looked away.

"I... sure."

He blinked. _What? That's easy._

She must've noticed his surprise because she sighed softly.

"Oh don't look so surprised Sasuke-kun. I know you know how I've always liked you."

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_...Always liked you._

_._

But apparently Mr. Subtle was also oblivious.

THE END

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prompt: July 30 - History. For SSM 2012

i can't believe SSM 2012 just finished. T_T but still check out the livejournal page, the fanworks and MVs are amazing to watch XD


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